


Companion to Beasts

by Chibifukurou



Category: Marvel (Movies), X-Men (Movies), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-05
Updated: 2011-12-05
Packaged: 2017-10-26 22:50:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/288751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibifukurou/pseuds/Chibifukurou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Victor didn't go looking for anything beyond a quick fuck usually, but he was bored. Centuries had passed since he and Jimmy had first left home, and nothing ever changed. Jimmy was pissed about him giving his inner Beast it's due again.</p><p>When he went to a Government Center that supposedly offered assistance to people in mental distress he was just looking for a way to pass the time until Jimmy cooled off and enjoying the thrill of sticking it to the system that had left him and his brother at Stryker's mercy.</p><p>He wasn't expected that decision, and a fateful meeting with one of the Centers employees, a mechanically augmented Empath named Remy Lebeau to change the course of his future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Companion to Beasts

**Author's Note:**

> A big Thank You to Madame Marigold/Smoking Cougar for coming through for me as always. And another BIG THANK YOU to Sparrowshellcat for all of their beautiful art, make sure to go check it out
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This story was written for personal enjoyment and entertainment purposes.

[ ](http://pics.livejournal.com/chibifukurou/pic/0007w75k/)

  


Please make sure to check out Sparrowshellcat's [Art Master Post](http://sparrowshellcat.dreamwidth.org/58602.html)

to give her feedback on all of her lovely art.

= = = =

Victor didn't often seek emotional support. He wasn't the type of man who needed to be supported or cared for.

He'd grown up in a broken home with a man who was more of a beast than a man. His brother had been the only highlight of his life, and he'd' taken after their father more than he wanted to admit.

He thought that Vic was the monster and maybe he was, but he'd long since learned that you had to give into the beast to make sure it didn't make you give into it. Cause if the beast chose the price there was no doubt that it would be much higher than what Vic would pick.

He made sure that things were taken care of in a timely matter so that they didn't come back to bite him in the ass.

His brother might be the more civilized of the pair of them but he was also the less cautious, trying to act like he was human. Every few decades he got it into his head that he was a better man than Vic. Jimmy would go haring off after some bitch or dame and try to act the part of a family man. The only time Vic had ever seen it work out was when the dame had been just as messed up as his brother. He'd like Spring Waters. She'd been a tough broad and if she hadn't been a human, he'd have gladly welcomed her into the family. But she was a human and he didn't want her hurting his brother. There wasn't much point when she died a few decades after she got together with Jimmy.

It always worked that way though,

They'd die and Jimmy would get upset and yell that Victor was a monster and he wished his brother had never made him a monster too. Never mind that they'd both been born the way they were. Then he'd go running off and leave Vic to have the world, and his inner beast all on his own.

Vic hadn't bothered blaming him for it in a few centuries. Obviously there just didn't seem to be any point. He was a monster just like his brother claimed. The only difference was that he accepted it. The whores and the booze had been a progression of his loneliness. He was a pack beast and if he'd been abandoned by his pack then he needed to find a surrogate.

Once he'd even managed to settle down with a whore for a few months trying to understand what his brother saw in the quiet life. He'd ended up being robbed blind and with just as little insight as ever. This time though it was different. It had been a few decades since Jimmy's last trip away from Vic and there had been a lovely little technological advancement. Atoma's the new and improved Atomic companions, made to help anyone who needed emotional or physical support. They existed only for their partner, or companions' whims. At least that was how the stories went.

Vic had long since learned things weren't' that simple. Slaves were supposed to happily serve their masters not that long ago, and everyone knew how that turned out. He figured that in another few decades the Atoma's would be fighting for freedom, just like the slaves, woman, and mutants before them. Until that happened though he didn't feel much guilt in seeking one out for a bit of Companionship of his own.

The Atoma whore houses were different then the ones he usually frequented, more clinic than a brothel. Astringent scent and all. When he asked to meet with a Companion, the woman at the front desk, who'd gone so far as to wear scrubs, asked him why he needed one. He'd had to think for a second, coming up with a convenient lie.

It ended up that he didn't have to. While he was still trying to decide if he should claim to be distraught spouse whose wife had just died, or a parent who'd lost their kid, a lanky auburn haired kid came out from the back, to lean casually against the front desk. Like it was an everyday thing, having a six foot nine man,with claws, trying to make his way onto the premises to meet with one of their ladies.

"Let him in Gloria. We can feel him all the way from the back."

"You know that' isn't how it works." The woman, Gloria, said. Giving the young man a look over the top edge of her glasses.

Vic tried to figure out if saying something would help or hurt his chances of getting to see someone.

"Just let him through."

"Fine." She slipped a small stack of papers down onto a clipboard and secured them into place with a loud 'snap' that made him have to bite back an instinctive growl. She obviously wasn't too happy with what she was doing.

But Vic couldn't care less. He was getting what he wanted, and he could feel his beast beginning to calm down now that he knew he was going to get a chance to slake his needs.

It liked the scent of the man, who instead of continuing to lean against the desk, followed him to sit in the waiting room chairs only two chairs down from him. One, chair sitting between them to give him the illusion of privacy as he filled out the forms.

Giving that the man was shuffling cards in between giving him knowing looks. Victor had his doubts as to the validity of the clinic's claims about keeping their client's information private. Not that it mattered. He was filling the form with a load of hogwash anyway. According to the papers. He was Mister Victor, an ex-soldier who'd come to New Orleans on business.

The truth was a lot less kosher and a lot more fun, though if the lady at the front desk tried to call his contacts, Striker would be sure to say he was a soldier, just to make sure nobody went digging for further answers.

About halfway through, while he was trying to figure out what to say on his medical and insurance papers. At over two hundred years old he'd never bothered to get all the new fangled vaccines that were required whenever he came to a place like this. It wasn't like it mattered his healing factor would make sure he didn't catch, or spread anything that was going to cause any real harm.

The young man lit up a cigarette, the smoky scent helping to mask the smell of lemon cleaners that was soaked into the vinyl and cheap, laminate woods of the waiting room chairs. "So" He leaned over and made a bit show of looking at Vic's paperwork. "So, Mister Victor, why do you want to meet with me today?"

Vic stared. He hadn't realized this kid was an Atoma. He looked human and Vic had just assumed that he was some orderly come to make sure he dint' continue to harass Gloria or make trouble for any of the other clients.

He sniffed the air delicately, trying to get a scent that would prove that this guy was just playing at being human, but he smelled as real as he looked. Though that might have something to do with the cigarette smoke that covered up most of the more personal odor that clung to his skin. Vic would get a better read on him once they were in the back and he could get his hands on the boy. "I'm here on business."

"So your paperwork says. But you don't get that sad from business." He waggled his eyebrows. "Do you , 'Cher? No, that's the type of sadness you have when your Mo Cheri leaves you for another." The boy curled his lanky body back into his own chair pointedly looking away from the paperwork he seemed to know was as fake as Vic's supposed name.

"I'm not that kind of man. I don't fall in love."

His chuckle was earthy, with a hint of growl from the cigarette." Non? Then why you here?"

"There wasn't really an answer to that. Not even a lie that would cover all of the reasons ." It sounded like fun." He showed his teeth, as a sign to stop asking questions.

"Then I suggest you find somewhere else to be." He winked. "This place is anything but fun. It'll suck the life right out of you." He stood up then, lanky legs stretching and popping as he arched his back like a cat, fingers raised towards the ceiling. "When you're done with those." He pointed a finger at Vic's clipboard. "You go the Gloria and ask for Remy. He'll show you what it means to come to one of these places."

"Vic watched him go, and tried to figure out if this 'Remy' was the same young man he'd been dealing with. It seemed like it from the way he'd been flirting, but most people didn't talk like hey weren't even in the room. Well most people who weren't' Wade. Then again, what did Vic know about Atomas? They could all be just as crazy as Death-pool.

It only took him another ten minutes to fill out the paperwork. If he'd been answering any questions truthfully it might have taken longer, but he wasn't in the mood to admit that he was an illegal alien from Canada, from back when Canada and America had been at war. Or that he didn't have a social security number because he didn't pay taxes or have insurance.

He was a ghost in the wind, and Gloria could suck his dick if she thought he was going to blow his anonymity for a chance at one of her whores, no matter what their talents for. He plunked the paperwork down in front of her, scraping one of his nails deliberately against the metal clip to make sure she didn't bother trying at the game of ignoring him until he gave up and when away.

She gave him the same look over her glasses that she'd give the boy, the maybe Remy. Obviously whatever you learned when you went to the school to be a Madame involved having ice water in four veins. Because that was the exact same look he usually got when he went to a whore house and the Madame thought he was buying a girl. The only difference was the fact that she was wearing ridiculous yellow and smiley face scrubs and the fact that they were glaring at each other over a desk and a clipboard, instead of a bed and bourbon. "He said to ask for Remy."

"Did he now." Her lips pinched together.

"That going to be a problem?" He'd make sure it wasn't if he had to. He wasn't one for hitting women, unless they hit him first, but he wouldn't feel guilty about it either.

"No, no problem except that he has another appointment in an hour."

"I'll be fast."

She snorted. "You act like you're going to have a choice. It's up to the Atoma how long the sessions last. And Remy is a thorough automaton."

"I'm sure it won't' take that long and if it does I'll tell him to stop." Well he would unless he was having fun, then all bets were off.

She snorted again, but didn't try to make him change his mind or telling him that he wasn't going to have much choice again. Either she didn't care one way or the other about Remy's next appointment or she thought he was being stupid and reckless enough that Remy was going to toss him out on his ass as soon as possible to get rid of him. Vic didn't care which it was as long as he finally got back to meet with his Companion for the hour. He hadn't expected things to take this long when he'd come in. It if he'd gone to a whore house he'd have been in and almost out by now. After spending a fun filled hour tucking his lady of the hour's brains outs. This Atoma crap had better be worth it, or he wasn't going to be happy. He'd make sure both the Remy, and Gloria knew it too.

"She handed him a key card with the numbers 233 on it." Just take that back and push in into the slot next the the door with the number 233 on it. It will let us know when you check out."

"And they said you'll charge me for however long Remy decides he wants to keep me?"

"If Remy doesn't think he can help you, you'll be out in five minutes free of charge. So I really wouldn't worry about him trying to make this last longer than it needs to. It would be a waste of all three of our times for him to do so. Particularly when he has another client to help so soon. "

"That's good then.

"Though it was still strange that they didn't want a deposit down at least. Maybe Gloria liked to keep plausible deny-ability by never touching the money. It would be a smart way to run the business, though he'd never run into a successful warehouse that ran on that kind of principle. It never ended up working out. The whores couldn't trust someone who wasn't in the dirt just as far as they were and it tended to give the Madame airs, thinking that they was better than their workers. Not that they usually didn't think that anyway, but it was a different kind of better.

Taking the card from Gloria's fingers, he headed back down the hallway, following the path the boy had taken before. He could still smell the faint traces of the nicotine smoke from where the kid had gone, and he didn't bother being surprised when the smoke led all the way to room 233 and disappeared behind the door. If the boy had been going for a sense of mystery had failed miserably, though that probably had more to do with Vic than with him. Most of his clients probably couldn't smell him a mile away. He pushed the card into its' slot and waited for a moment until it was obvious that he wasn't getting the card back and the door clicked open.

The boy, now quite obviously Remy, was waiting for him on a bed. The room h ad the same clinical feel as the rest of the building. Right down to the scent of starch and the bright white walls, furniture, and sheets. Obviously someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make this place look like a legitimate treatment facility.

Too bad legitimate places didn't sell their good like whore houses, he'd have liked the idea of thumbing his nose at society by using a sanctioned way of getting his needs fulfilled. There was a certain amount of irony to that plan and it would have been fucking hilarious. Being able to bypass his brothers fucked up sense of propriety. His brother spends a few centuries trying to knock some civility into his head, only to have him be all civilized by getting his needs fulfilled.

That was the kind of shit that was just too funny to make sense to anyone else. It was like thumbing his nose as both his brother and society at the same time.

Remy smiled at him around his cigarette, his eyes didn't twinkle and he didn't even appear all that happy, but for some reason it felt like Vic had just taken the best hit of drugs he'd ever had. Like slaking his blood-lust and cuddling his brother at the same time. "What the hell was that?"

"Don't you like it? It's why you came here right, to feel good?"

"Don't be stupid. I'm just here for a good fuck."

"We don't fuck." The boy was frowning around his cigarette now, and when Vic moved closer to the bed, he backed away, making sure there was plenty of space between them. He pulled the cigarette out of his mouth with an intentionally lazy move that was probably supposed to cover the way he grabbed something out of his nightstand . A tazer most likely or something else small and easy to carry that could take a out a man of Vic's size. Pepper spray was more likely now that he had a chance to think about it. It would fit the clinical feel of the place better than something as militaristic as a tazer.

"If we're not here to fuck then what are we supposed to be doing? I certainly didn't go to all this trouble just to have you make me feel like I was mainlining some drug. If I wanted that kind of a buzz, I'd have paid for it and not wasted my time fucking around, sweetheart." He spit the pet name out out of habit. It was the one he tended to use on the whores he dealt with when they tried to rob him blind or drug him so that they wouldn't have to spend time with him. "Tell me what it is you think we're supposed to be doing if it ain’t fucking. Or are you just too high and mighty to have a good time?"

Remy didn't react to his words or his derision. If he had Victor would have been happier. It would have made a good excuse to go storming out of here in a huff. And would have made sure he didn't have to pay as much as a penny to anyone in this building.

"No, I don't think I'm too good for you. Mister Victor. Atoma's simply aren't built with the ability to have a sexual relationship with their companions. It was considered a safety feature to make sure that they weren't used as government sanctioned whores."

Well shit. So much for thumbing his nose at society by fulfilling his needs in a government sanctioned way. "Then why bother making you at all?"

"We are supposed to be companions for those who cannot survive the perils of the modern world without assistance. "

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I can survive the world just fine."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have come here." Remy had relaxed at least a little. Whatever he'd grabbed from the nightstand was still hidden behind his back, but he'd gone back to smoking his cigarette and had sauntered over to the window to sprawl against the sill. Acting like they were just buddies and he wasn't intentionally avoiding to the part of the room that was nearest to Vic. "You might have been betters served by going to a whore house if all you wanted was a fuck without any emotional strings attached."

"What? You think just because you can make me feel like I'm happy I'm going to get emotionally attached. You obviously don't know me too well."

"Joy is one of the simpler emotions we offer." Remy's lips curled around his cigarette as he pulled it out of his mouth and blew out a perfect ring of smoke. "And not one of the ones I prefer to give to my clients. It isn't' something I tend to feel naturally and I don't like sharing that kind of chemical happiness with anyone."

"Then why bother?"

"Because it's what people want. They want to feel happy again. To forget about what they lost. That's not what Atomas were made for. Not by a long shot." He didn't meet Vic's eyes as he said it. He continued to stare out the window instead.

Vic followed his gaze, and noticed for the first time the thin mesh built into the window pane. "They got you locked in?"

"That got the Remy's attention back on him. "What did you think this place was exactly Mister Victor? Did you think we'd want to be here, to have appointments and schedules to keep while we feed our clients addictions?"

"I hadn't thought much about it."

Remy snorted.

"So why are you here, since you don't want to be here and you're not planning on showing me a good time?" He still couldn't believe that claptrap about being unable to have sex. Surely whoever had made the Atomas hadn't been that cruel. Sex was one of the main joys in life.

"Because I don't have a choice. Atomas are made to bond with one person and live their lifetime working and serving them until they die or are able to come to grips with whatever kept them from being able to experience the joys that are part of the world around them."

"That doesn't sound much at all like this place." He couldn't see anyone bonding here.

"No it doesn't."

"So?"

He grimaced. "There were a limited number of approved companions for Atomas. They made far more of us than they ever planned on using for our original purpose. We're not really alive so it only made sense to make enough that they'd have a wide variety of ways to experiment on us."

"What the hell does that mean?" Visions of Strykers experiments on mutants danced through his head. This was sounding more and more like something he should have stayed far away from.

"It means that we're not alive enough to matter. We're just whores, experiments running the maze for some bastards amusement."

"Look, I'm sorry for you." He wasn't really but he wasn't not sorry either. It was a sick life these Atomas were having to live but no sicker than the lives of any mutant who fell into government hands and he'd never been one to worry about things that weren't going to change. Governments had been doing the same thing as long as he'd been alive and that wasn't likely to change before he died. Which wasn't likely going to be for another millennium. "I feel bad for you, but I didn't come here to listen to you bitch about your life. If I wanted that I'd have gone to a bar, and listened to the other bastards talking about their horrible lives." He didn't really care about what the rest of the bar flies he put up with were talking about. They were just humans and he couldn't have cared less about them if he tried. And he had tried. "I came here to get away from all that shit and if you can't help me the I'll just be on my way." If he was lucky, as soon as he got out of this building he'd be able to put the memory of the kids' strange red eyes and sad face out of his head and act like this had just been a just a stupid idea or a bad drug trip. Then he'd go to a whore house and spend his money there.

"Fiene, 'Chere. We'll do things your way. Lay down on the bed."

Vice smiled, not bothering to hide his fangs. It looked like things were finally going his way. "Now we're talking."

"Shut up and lay down."

Vic did as he was told, too amused at seeing the man who'd just been claiming that he couldn't fuck bow to his whims, to bother getting upset about being ordered around by a whore. He did keep an eye on the other man's hidden hand though, just to make sure whatever he'd gotten to defend himself from Vic didn't end up anywhere near Vic's private areas. Luckily for Remy, since he'd have lost if his hand if he'd tried anything, the weapon, Vic still hadn't been able to piece together what it was, ended up right back in the nightstand when Remy leaned over Vic so that their faces were right next to each other, Noses almost brushing. Vic could already tell this was going to be a fun afternoon."So how do you want me, baby?"

"Just hold on tight, this is going to feel a bit strange." Then Remy grabbed his head, fingers brushing against his temples and it felt like his mind was turning inside out."

He tried to yell for the other man to stop, but his mouth was full of cotton and all that came out was a low purr, he usually only let loose when he and Jimmy were curled up together in a pile, and Vic was surrounded by the scent of pack. The scent seemed to be pulled from his memory to surround him and Remy in a cloud of good feelings. He should be pissed, he knew he should be pissed, but instead, he rolled the two of them over and cuddled against Remy's chest like a large dog. The thought that he should rip into Remy for making him feel this way and act like a bitch in heat, flitted through his head. Only to disappear again as long fingers threaded threw his head and eased him to sleep, while a deep feeling of contentment swelled in his chest and ran down through his fingers and toes leaving him limp and happily purring against Remy's chest as he slowly fell to sleep.

= = = =

When he woke up it wasn't just his lust that was gone it was his blood lust as well. Rolling over he tried to locate the missing Atoma without much luck. However long he'd been asleep the sun had gone down enough that the window was only letting the dimmest trickle of light into the room. The room no longer smelled of fresh smoke, only a few stale trickles of the scent rose from the bed linens to spoof that Remy had ever been there.

Vic didn't like it, he didn't like waking up in strange places and he certainly didn't like waking up in strange places with no idea why or how he fell asleep in the first place. He never slept with his whore unless Jimmy was there to make sure they didn't rob him blind or kill him while he slept.

Even though there was no tale tell scent of sex in the air and he could still remember Remy's emphatic insistent that Atomas couldn’t have sex in the air, he couldn't imagine anything else that would not him out and feed his needs so strongly that didn't involve sex or blood. And if it had been blood there was no way he wouldn't smell it on the sheets even with the antiseptic smell that filled the room. Even bleach couldn't fully destroy the scent of blood.

Rolling out of the bed, he dug through the pockets of his pants, and found his knife, wallet, and keys exactly where he'd left them. So he hadn't had sex, he hadn't been robbed, and he didn't appear to have killed or maimed anyone.

So what had he done?

The door clicked open, drawing his attention, and making his claws extend instinctively. It was just Remy. He didn't look like he felt anywhere near as good as Vic felt.

When his protective instincts surged to the front he didn't even bother feeling embarrassed or trying to hold them in check. The Atoma had dark circles beneath his eyes and it looked like the door was the only thing holding him up. His buckled legs certainly weren't.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"My client' came while you were asleep."

"I thought I was your client." It was probably a no no to act so possessive but he didn't feel guilty for that either. Whatever the Atoma had done to him he felt like he was a boy again. The beast was still hiding under his skin but it wasn't controlling him. For now at least it was happy and content to just lie at the bottom of his consciousness. He owed Remy a lot for that. "Weren't you supposed to stay with me until we were done?"

"We were done." He tried to pull a cigarette to his lips but his fingers were shaking to hard. He could get the cigarette into his mouth but the lighter in his other hand shook too much when he raised his arm that high and when he lowered the cigarette to try and light it both his hands shook. It was pathetic.

Vic strode over to him, and wrapped an arm around his waist, taking his weight with ease. Even without his blood-lust giving him strength the Atoma was barely heavier than a child despite his lankiness. "If we were finished then why am I still asleep in your bed?"

"Yau' not."

"Funny." He growled, not meaning it. "He couldn't feel the body beside him shaking like a junky just waiting for their next fix. "Did you take anything to deal with your client?" It wouldn't be the first time he'd dealt with a whore who needed something a little extra to put up with the pain of meeting with a tough client.

"Naw, those things don't work on Remy."

And again with the talking like he wasn't in the room. He was either crazy or it was just normal for an Atoman to be so out of it. Vic wasn't sure he wanted to know what which one was the truth. "You did a number on yourself.

"Remy, did." He'd gone back to trying to light his cigarette.

With about the same about of luck. Vic finally felt too guilty to keep watching him struggle and grabbed the offending lighter out of his hands. "You shouldn't play with fire when you're shaking like that. You're going to get yourself burned."

"Remy not worried about that."

"I could tell." God save him from idiots and self-sacrificing bastards. "Look I don't know what your client did to you, but I doubt smoking its going to help you deal with it."

"It calms Remy's nerves." He waggled his fingers for the lighter.

Vic didn't have to raise it above his head very far to make sure that he couldn’t reach it. He might not be much taller than the Atoma but Remy wasn't able to sit up straight so it balanced out.

"Give it!" Remy pouted at him.

He could feel the beast stir in his mind at the disrespect he was being shown, but it was easy to push down. It didn't understand that he was playing. He could remember back when he could be amused like then as Jimmy. Funny how long ago that seemed now that he'd remembered it was possible to be anything but angry. It made him wonder how long his brother had been able to put up with him for so long. "No."

"Give it, or I'll make you." He collapsed into the Vic's side before he' could make good on his threat and Vic just sighed at the puppy eyes he was being given. He'd forgotten how much of a push over he'd used to be. "Fine." He grabbed the cigarette out of Remys' limp hand and put it to his own lips, steadying it as he raised the lighter to its tip and waited for it to catch. He took a few slow drags just to see the other man's eyes spark, before handing it over to Remy.

After a few puffs he managed a "Thanks, cher."

Vic put an arm around him and held him until the cigarette was down to the filter and he'd managed to calm down so that there were only a few remaining shakes.

"Thanks, cher." This time it was a lot more honest.

He nodded but didn't remove his arm from around Remy's shoulder. Partially because he could still feel the other man's weight pressing against his side and partially because he didn't want Remy to run away before he could get his answers. "So what is it that you did to me?"

"I helped you."

"Yeah, I could tell that. What I meant was what did you do to my blood lust, my anger?"

"You didn't need it anymore."

"That doesn't mean you can just take it away?"

He looked up at him with a confused furrow between his brows, "If you didn't want to be fixed, why come?"

"I wanted to slake my lust." He surprised himself with his honesty but there wasn't much point in lying. Not when this man obviously knew him well enough to take his blood lust away."

"Remy did that?" It came out as more of a question than a statement, but it was true either way and Vic found himself feeling guilty for making him think that he hadn't helped.

"You did. I just what to know how? I haven't been like this in a long time."

"That bad?"

"No, it's good." He felt his lips curl up in the corners to reveal his fangs. He felt like grinning, too much to push them back down. "I just want to know how I can have it happen again."

"Remy helps you if you come back."

Did the Atoma even realize what he'd done? How amazing it was? Looking down into his confused eyes, Vic doubted it. So If he couldn’t find out what he wanted to know about how an Atoma could fix his mutant instinct, he'd have to find out what Remy did know and see if he could piece things together himself. "How long will it last, my feeling better?"

This at least he seemed to know. "You'll feel better for a few weeks, then you have to come back."

"How long until I get as bad as I was?"

"Don't know. Never met nobody like you." A wrinkle appeared between his brows as he tried to think about it.

"What's your best guess?"

"A month or two. You shouldn't let it get as bad as before."

"No I shouldn't, but it took me a few years until it got that bad." More than a few but that wasn't the type of thing he could be honest about with some stranger, even if it was Remy. "Don't know that I want to be making any commitments to come back.

"I can't be sure I can see you if you don't make an appointment. One of the other can help if you want?"

He didn't want. Bad enough that Remy had seen him so braised off, he didn't need anybody who was easier to spook getting a whiff of the beast that was inside him. He didn't want to end up in an asylum again. Or whatever it was they were calling the madhouses these days. The last time he'd been stuck in one it had gotten bad. The scent of fear and being caged up had driven him crazy. By the time that Jimmy managed to get him out he'd been clawing at his own skin just so that he could feel something. And whenever one of the workers was stupid enough to come in reach of his claws he'd made sure they paid for it."How would I set that up?"

"Whaa?"Remy asked.

It was only then, once he started to pay attention. That Vic noticed that he was now bearing almost all of Remy's weight. "I asked how I would set that up?"

Remy yawned in reply, his eyes already blinking shut. Vic grabbed the cigarette out of his limp fingers and used the bottom of his boot to stub it out. "We'll figure it out once you wake up." The Atoma was obviously worn out and Vic wasn't above taking advantage of the fact to take another nap with him.

= = = =

They did manage to sort it all out, once Remy woke up. He seemed more himself after the nap. The same snippy personality that he'd had when Vic had first met him. It made him want to hunt down the other client, Remy had dealt with, and skin them and that wasn’t even his beast talking. Though he suspected that once the blood-lust and the beast's other hungers came back he'd have to be careful that he didn't do anything stupid.

If he felt this possessive while in his right mind things wouldn't be pretty when he wasn't in control. That much he knew about his beast. Hopefully, everything would go to plan and he'd be able to find Jimmy before his madness got bad again.

HE wanted his brother to meet Remy, but even more than that, he wanted someone to bring him back here when he started to lose control again. He didn't feel guilty for any of the deaths he'd caused while he'd been driven by the beast's hunger, but that didn't mean he wanted to start acting like that again.

Remy led him back to Gloria's desk, The slight shaking of the hand that held his cigarette the only sign hat he wasn't feeling all the way back to normal. Vic didn't feel the need to take his illusion of being perfectly fine away.

Gloria either shared his interest in keeping Remy happy or just didn't care, because she didn't mention the way his signature wavered when he signed a contract to see Vic every two weeks for the next three months. Vic doubted he'd need to see Remy that much, but Gloria had insisted that the two week plan was the only one that would allow Victor to bring a partner when he next visited and he hadn't argued. He could always come and see Remy again without Jimmy, if it came to that.

= = = =

Jimmy had done a good job hiding from him this time. He'd left New Orleans and to all appearances the entire area surrounding it. Probably heading north. He always did when he was on his own.

He finally located Jimmy at a small bar in the upper Poconos. It wasn't much more than a clapboard shack,

Full of mountain men and cheap beer. The kind of place that they'd both ended up in more and more often as they'd gotten older.

It was the kind of bar where a bar fight wasn't just expected it was encouraged. One of

The few things that kept the life interesting when there wasn't anything but woods as far as anybody was likely to travel in any given month.

Vic considered starting a brawl. It was their usual way of greeting each other, but he decided to do something a little different. He was here to try to convince Jimmy to come back to

New Orleans with him so that they could both see Remy and hopefully find their respective sanity's.

So he sat down in the stool beside Jimmy. Slick as a weasel. Too bad Jimmy boy knew all of his tricks. He didn't even seem surprised to see him. But that was okay, particularly because Jimmy waved from a beer and slid it in front of him.

They sat beside each other sipping their beers. Then a brawl started over a pool game in the back of the bar and spread to their part of the bar. Then they were trading punches as the bar broke into chaos around them. They ended up outside, lying in the dirt next to each other as their wounds healed over. It felt good to lay in the dirt with his kid brother and just laugh over their various broken bones and busted lips. Like two pups playing together.

Jimmy rolled over to stare at him. "What did you do, Vic?"

"I went to see an Atoma."

"You're kidding right?"

He didn't reply.

Jimmy started laughing until he was flat on his back again. Vic took advantage to jump on him and start trying to strangle him. They rolled together in the dirt until Jimmy managed a particularly strong hit to his groin. They ended up right back where they started.

"So you really went to see an Atoma? Why? You aren't the type to get involved with new fads."

"I was tired of whores." Jimmy had the decency not to start back on their old argument over Vic finding a nice wife and settling down for at least a few decades.

"You seem different."

"I want you to meet him."

Jimmy rolled back to his feet. "I'm not coming to meet your whore Vic. I'm glad that you're doing better, but I left you for a reason. I don't want any part of your beast. I'm happy here."

"Are you? Because you don't seem very happy."

Jimmy stalked away and Vic could hear the growl of a bike starting and then the sound of someone driving away.

He didn't follow. For now, it was in his best interest to let Jimmy make his own decisions. He’d find Vic eventually. That was just how the two of them worked.

= = = =

He didn't feel as out of place the second time he went to the Atoma's building. The white clinical-ness of the places still grated against the his nerves with its falsehood, but it wasn't a struggle to go up to Gloria and slide his appointment cared across the counter for her to punch and put a second date on.

It was just a business transaction; right down to the money, he slid over the counter to her waiting hands. He only had to pay for ten, since they gave him two visits free for signing up.

It was like some cheap, bargain basement, medical care place. The types that seemed to pop up around the army's fields, promising relieve from whatever ailed you as long as you could provide gold stolen from some enemy camp, or your last book of cigarettes.

It turned his stomach that he might be thought of as one of those weak creatures. He'd never thought he'd sink so low. Even knowing that he was taking advantage of the government's system and doing something legal just for the heck of it didn't cheer him up this time. Maybe he was just not in the mood, now that his madness had started creeping back up on him, but there just didn't be the same kind of magic as the first time he'd come to the Center.

When Remy stepped out into the hallway and motioned for him to come in. He followed without reservation. He hated admitting that he might need help and what Remy was offering went so far, beyond what he could get, anywhere else, it wasn't even funny. This was his only chance at being the man he used to be before he'd lost control of his beast.

Well the only solution he'd actually consider. He didn't want to become one of Stryker's pet mercenaries. Kept on staff because they owed the other man for getting their powers under control.

Vic had lived with his own powers for years and this was the first time he'd let anyone but Jimmy near him when he was battling the beast. It didn't make for a comfortable situation.

"Have you had a good couple of weeks?"Remy asked.

He nodded. "Went up to visit with my brother. He seems to be doing well."

"That's good." This time his cigarette wasn't present, instead he poured the two of them think tumblers of scotch, only a finger's width for each of them. Vic could d have told him that his metabolism made it pointless for him to drink anything less than a liqueur store full of booze but he left the Atoma his illusions. "

"I think he might come down to see you the next time I come around."

Remy didn't object, though the way he gulped down his drink and went to grab another all within a minute, gave Vic the sneaking suspicion that Remy wasn't too pleased with the idea. Not that it mattered since it wasn't the type of thing he wasn't willing to negotiate on. He wanted Jimmy better too and no matter when he owed Remy, he'd always owe Jimmy more. That was just the way it was with brothers. "Look, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings." He didn't care if he did but he wasn't going to go out of his way to hurt the Atoma's feelings. It wasn't as if Remy had asked to be here. At least Vic couldn't think of any situation where Remy would ask to become a computer run virtual whore. "Let's just get this over. I'm not in the mood to deal with this right now."

Remy put his glass down finally."Let's get this over with then. I'm not here to force you to do what I want you to do. That's not how I work. "

"Sure it's not. You show me a glimpse of the man I could be and then you just take it away like it doesn't matter."

"What do you want me to say? Should I feel guilty? If that's what you want, you can go somewhere else. You didn't' hire a whore. I might be an Atoma but I still have standards."

He could smell the scent of Remy's other clients on the sheets and in the very walls of the room and his beast was clawing at his skin trying to get free so that he could claim the Atoma properly. He wasn't about to let it though. He was a bastard but not a rapist. "I'm just not in the mood to drag this out more than I have to."

Remy gave him a sharp nod. "Go ahead and lay down on the bed for a bit. I'll try to make this quick but you might have some problems focusing for a few minutes after I'm done."

Vic did as asked even though he didn't want to. He just wanted things to go his way, but he wasn't stupid enough to think that avoiding down what he was asked really changed anything.

= = = =

Part 2

= = = =

Jimmy had always cleaned up nice, though the way he looked like some wet behind the ears solider as he tugged at the collar of his polo shirt was amusing. "If you keep doing that you're going to strangle yourself."

"Good. At least I wouldn't have to walk around dressed like this."

"You agreed to help."

Jimmy snorted, glaring at him in the mirror as

Vic rubbed product through his hair to get his usual tufts to lay flat for once. "Just be patient. I'm almost done."

"Why can't' I just go in dressed like normal?"

"I don't want anybody suspecting that you are with me since you're going to have to make an excuse to see Remy."

"I could still dress in something a little less douche."

True, but that wouldn't have been as funny and it felt good, maybe too good to be able to play harmless jokes on his brother again. "Don't worry about it you'll be fine. I doubt their going to care if you look like an idiot."

"Shut up!" Jimmy shoved him away and took over fixing his own hair, running his fingers through the strands until they stood on end.

"Aw, is Jimmy nervous about his first trip to an Atoma clinic?"

Jimmy leaped for him and they ended up tussling on the floor like a pair of pups. Vic had missed this too. More than even, he had realized.

= = = =

Waiting sucked. He stared at the front of the Atoma center waiting for James to come out. It was probably a good sign that his brother hadn't come out right away. It most likely meant that he'd managed to get in to see Remy. He'd been their long enough the first time had gone in but that didn't meant he felt all together comfortable with sitting outside while his brother went in to handled something he should have been about to handle himself. It had been eight horses already and it didn't look like anything this was going to happen any time soon.

He dug one of James's ever-present cigars out from between the trucks' seats and chomped on the end of it. Debating whether or not to light it up. James would be pissed if he did, but honestly, Vic was pissed enough for both of them right now.

He figured the worse one of them would end up was a broken arm or a leg. Nothing to really worry about and the nicotine would make him feel better for as long as he was going to smoke it even if the effects would wear off almost immediately thanks to his physiology.

He was gust cracking the door open so he at least wouldn't have to listen to James's bitching about him stinking up the back p of the truck. When there was a loud crash and every light in the CAC started flash red. That was it he'd had more than enough of waiting around for things to get settled he was going in. Dropping the cigar back into the cup holder he got out and headed words the door only to get bowled over when James, with an unconscious Remy over his shoulder, bowled into him full force. "What the hell!"

"We need to go now."

"What the hell were you thinking just grabbing him like that are. Are you trying to get us both killed?" And everybody though he was the crazy impulsive brother. "He's government property. You don't just run off with government property."

"He's like us."

"What?"

"He's like the other member of the weapon X project."

"That’s impossible we knew everybody in that project. They'd even been part of the project. There was no way they would have missed an Atoma fighting with them. "He's a robot. They wouldn't waste their time."

"He's not a robot."

"Just put him back, Jimmy. We don't need to get killed over this."

"You would'nt have sent me after him if you didn't think he was worth pissing the government off over. Anyway it's already done. There isn't much point in trying to figure out what to do about it now." With that, he headed towards the truck and wrenched the door open. Laying the unconscious Atoma down on the bench seat. We should go. I don't know what's keeping their rent a cops but I don't want to waste time fighting them."

"What makes you think it will be a rent a cop? This is government building we're breaking into."

Jimmy jut growled and Vic let it go. There wasn't much point trying to put Remy back anyway. Jimmy hadn't been subtle breaking out. It was only a matter of time until the government figured out who he was. Droppings Remy back onto the Center's doorstep wasn't going to change the fact that they made off with him in the first place."

"Did you at least get his agreement to come with us?"

"Not exactly."

"You're an idiot." That didn't stop Vic from getting into the drivers seat and tearing out of the parking lot, and into traffic, going at least above ten miles above the speed limit. "A complete moron."

He grabbed the cigar out of the cup holder and started chomping on it again. He didn't even bother to feel guilty. Jimmy was going to go around kidnapping government property then he couldn’t say much about Vic stealing the occasional cigar.

= = = =

They ended up back at Jimmy's cabin because they didn't have anywhere else to go and they couldn’t stay anywhere in the area of the New Orleans Center.

Jimmy at least understood that. He was stupid but not crazy.

Two days later Remy still hadn't woken up and Vic was starting to reevaluate his idea that James wasn't an idiot. If they kidnapped the Atoma just to find out that he couldn't survive outside of a Center, they were all screwed.

They'd end up having to hide out in Canada or some other equally unappealing backwater country until this whole thing blew over. Which knowing their luck would probably not be for another couple decades. "How hard did you hit him?"

"Not that hard."

Vic looked back to where the lanky form of the other mutant was sprawled across the runt's bed. "Right…"

"I didn't."

"You kidnap him from a government facility because you think he was somehow a member of the weapon X project that we somehow managed not to meet and you're just now figuring out that we're in over our heads."

"Don't be such a douche."

"Then don't be a bitch about this."

Jimmy stomped off.

"I'm going out to chop firewood. Call me if something happens." Vic called after him.

Jimmy gave him the finger.

Vic too that for the 'of corse' that it probably wasn't. If he stayed in the cabin much longer he'd kill his brother and that would be too messy. He didn’t want to be stuck looking after his brother for a day or two, until he was strong enough to take over the cooking again.

The repitition of putting the firewood on a tree trunk, the the swing of the ax and the comforting 'shunk' of splitting wood managed to sooth his nerves. As homicidal as he was he didn't want to imagine how bad he'd have been if he'd never met Remy in the first place. He didn't want to imagine how much of a monster he'd be if Remy didn't wake up. He and Jimmy weren't talking about it but both of them knew that if he went crazy again things would end up the same way they'd started.

Log on the stump, swing of the ax, 'shunk'. He tried to let the repetition pull him out of his thoughts but it wasn't really possible as riled up as he was.

So when he smelled something that should be approaching on the breeze, there wasn't much thought putting into dropping the ax and heading towards the woods. Climbing a tree was a matter of seconds, with his claws grown out. Then he had a good view of the area surrounding James's cabin and the covert-ops solders that surrounded it. This wasn't his week.

First his brother gets them involved with the government, then soldiers followed them home. H was going to kill Jimmy, if the soldiers didn't beat him to it. Which seemed likely give the number of soldiers present.

He didn't bother playing nice. Jumping from tree to tree, before leaping down onto the soldiers that were circling nearest the house. They didn't know what hit them and even with the beast under control it felt good to feel the tearing of flesh between his claws and the rush of blood over his fingertips. That was the kind of thing that never got old. No matter how many years Vic spent fighting.

It was really too bad that they were actually god enough to put a bullet in him. His body jolted again. Make that two bullets. He would have enjoyed playing with them more but he couldn't take the chance.

He and Jimmy would be fine, they might get killed and captured, but they'd come back to life and no prison could hold them when they were at full strength. Remy would die.

He climbed back up the tree he'd used to vault down onto p of the solders. The res of the soldier boys were acting weird backing away. It wouldn’t last probably just wanted some reinforcements to make sure that they stayed went down and stayed down.

Vic wasn't planning to give them the chance. He busted through the door. "We need to leave."

"What?" Of course, James would be cooking instead of keeping watch.

"We're leaving. You managed to get a bunch of cov-op monkeys called down on us."

"Already?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He started tossing canned goods into a bag. It would be easier to hunt but he had his doubts about feeding cooked rabbit to an unconscious robot. Canned soup, even if it was just the cheap chicken and noodle stuff, seemed lik a better idea.

"I payed to get this place wiped from the system. No public records of any house on the premises. They shouldn't have been able to figure out where we were in two days."

Shit, why did his idiot brother have to be right for once. "You pissed anyone local off lately, enough that they'd sell you out?"

"Not in the last couple years."

"Chipped?"

"Chipped."

"Shit!"

They both stared at the door toward the bedroom for a second. This was going to get messy. "Relocate and then handle it, or handle it now?"

James glared at the offending door. "Handle it now. Whatever they've got to hide, they want it hidden fast. If they're trying this hard to get rid of us."

Vic nodded. They hadn't even got this much of a response when they'd broken away from the Weapon X group and that was bad shit. The type of stuff that could get a president impeached if it got out. Whatever was going on was big, and bad. "You get the knife ready, I'll try to figure out where it is."

He headed for the bedroom, already trying to figure out where they'd have hidden a chip in the kid. Arms and legs were traditional and easy to hide things in. A little shot and Remy himself might never know that he'd been chipped.

Then again a secret his big they wouldn’t trust it to a single chip. No there would be at least two, and maybe something built into whatever that scar in his chest was hiding. So one in an arm or leg, and then where would the other be?

He stripped the lanky Atoma, trying to figure out here you'd stick a second chip. He felt alone Remy's limbs searching for any sign of a bump or scar that shouldn't be there. Hie finally found one back of his right arm, just below the shoulder. Putting that discovery assigned until Jimmy showed up with the knife.

He searched the rest of his limbs quickly, now having some idea what he was feeling for. There was another lump just next to the kid's left knee. That made two, both in places where it would be easy to remove something if you were determined enough. Which probably meant that there was a third chip hidden somewhere. One that was close to at least one artery or other dangerous location. He flipped the Atoma onto his belly and started fleeing up his spine and around his skull. He finally found the tale-tell lump just half way between his ear and be back of his skull. That one wasn't buried deep, but it still want a place he'd have preferred to go hacking around.

Jimmy showed up with a knife. When Vic took it from him he could feel the heat from the sterilization process."Any sign of our friends?"

"Nothing yet, but I'm not trusting them to stay quiet."

"I wouldn’t. They had him chipped in at least three places."

"Shit!"

"They wouldn’t have done that unless they weren't ever planning on letting him go."

"So if he's so Goddamn important what the hell were they letting him see random people? If they want to keep you a secret they bury you deep enough you don't ever see daylight again. No point in chipping you then. "

That's what they'd done to Victor and James. After the execution hadn't worked they'd been looking forward to a lifetime of staring at a dark pit with only each other and rats for company, until Stryker had offered them an out.

They'd taken it without reservations and they'd abandoned Stryker with the same lack of reservation. At least on James's part. It had been harder for Vic. He'd liked the killing and the blood. Hadn't wanted to leave it behind. If Stryker hadn't made the mistake of trying to kill Jimmy of he'd probably still be working for him.

Then he'd degenerated into a living beast and gone on a killing spree through the Chilean Jungle that had made Jimmy abandon him in disgust. When he'd come back down from the blood lust he'd been alone, but they'd been free and he'd promised himself that he'd never let either him or James get in with the Government again.

"Sorry, I got you into this mess, Vic."

"You'd have gotten us into this mess, even if you had known." James had a sickeningly large soft spot when it came to strays. It wasn't really surprising that of the two of theme he'd been the one to get them back into hot water with the the government. "I asked you to look in on him not to kidnap him. If you had thought about hings instead of just jumping in like a impulsive putz."

"I get it already. Just get him taken care of so that we can get out of here."

While James went to look on the progress of their new friends', he turned his attention back to digging the chips out of Remy's body. The one on the back of the arm was easiest, there wasn't much but flesh back there, certainly noting that was likely to be as life threatening as a bullet. He had to be a little more careful when it came to the wound me made next to the Atoma's knee. He didn't know much about atomaton's physiology but they seemed to bleed the same as normal humans and he didn't want to cut through a tendon or something equally crippling.

Luckily for Remy, the soldiers held off bombing the cabin until after he'd finished prying the chip out otherwise he'd have been as likely to stab straight though the legal as pry the chip away from the bone. He managed to cut his own thumb open instead but that wasn't much of a problem. It had already started clotting up by the time he got the blade out again. "What the hell was that, Jimmy?"

"Shut up and hurry." There was the sharp bark of a shotgun too close to be soldiers. They had to be in serious trouble if James had actually gone for the gun instead of going out and trying to take them out in hand to hand.

"I'm hurrying, just keep your breeches on." He growled back more to distract James from his worrying than because he actually felt like saying anything. The sound of explosions and the feel of the house rocking around him was setting off his instincts. It might have been a few years sense they had been to war but those instincts didn’t fade and they were pulling his beast back to the surface. The scent of Remy's blood wasn't helping with that.

He should sterilize the knife again after the way it was covered with his blood, but he didn't have the time. It wasn't like he wasn't going to give Remy' anything anyway. Sickness didn't last in his system for very long and mutations couldn’t' be passed by blood contact. He ended up having to slice a larger flap of the Atoma's scalp away than he'd originally planned. Just to make sure that he could tape it back down afterwords. Here he finally found a sign that the other man wasn't as human as he looked. There was metal plating all around his skull and Vic counted himself lucky that they hadn't just built the chip right in.

It would have been hell to pry it off then, if he'd even been able to do so. Once he manage to force the chip away from the bone he taped the slice of scalp back into place. Duct tape wasn't the best bandage but it would make sure that the kid didn't bleed out all over everything. "You ready to go?"

"No!" Another bark of the shotgun...

An explosion shook the cabin and even the steel plates that Jimmy had hidden in the seemingly simple wooden log walls couldn't hold out. It buckled in and if Vic had moved any slower than it would have buried him and the kid in the wreckage. As it was, he'd lost the pack of soup and the knife. "Too bad. We're out of time."

"Damn it." Jimmy appeared in front of the bedrooms' door, face streaked with dirt and blood from where exploding glass and wood had gouged quickly healing chunks out of his face.

"No gun?"

"It jammed. Would have slowed us down anyway."

Which meant that James had probably lost his temper and broken the thing in half by accident while trying to clear the jam. "Well then we better get going before anyting else shows up to slow use down."

James didn't argue, so they were in for a shit-load of trouble. The two of them busted through the back door and into the woods shoulder to shoulder. The soldiers, who'd been waiting for them, didn't know what hit them.

Even with Remy's limp body tossed over his shoulder, Vic was way faster than an average man. Meaner too. He didn't feel any guilt about hitting below the belt if that's what it took to get his brother and him out. Jimmy wasn't as mean but he vicious enough to be effective.

Bullets and bows slowed Vic down enough that James, who healed almost before he was hit could speed through faster. He didn't kill his targets like Vic would have, but given some of the wounds he left in his path, Vic wasn't sure that some of the soldiers wouldn’t have preferred to die on his claws instead.

They let the soldiers think they were being herded. It was any easy thing to let the trap spring. Easier than trying to push through. Because while the soldiers were concentrating on chasing them into the ambush they weren't worried about backing up the trap to make sure that they couldn’t break through. At least Vic assumed they weren't. They didn't seem smart enough to see that eventuality.

So as long as Stryker wasn't hiding somewhere in the shadows pulling these tough guy's strings, they weren’t much of a threat. Particularly once it became clear that they weren't shooting to kill Remy. Whatever secrets they were so desperate to keep they weren't desperate enough to kill the evidence. At least not yet. Which put them at an advantage. Not just in age and power, but in leverage as well.

Their loping gate pulled them out ahead of the solder boys as they headed for the sheer cliff that made up the back border of James' property. It probably looked like a dead end to the soldiers and it was if you didn't have rock climbing gear, or the ability to grow claws from your hands.

Which meant that it wasn't much for a dead friend at all for either of them. They'd managed to put almost a quarter mile between themselves and their hunters by the time they hit the cliff. Which would have been perfect, except for the part where Vic's worse fears had come to life. Stryker was standing at the foot of the cliff a group of snipers arrayed across the top edge. He gave them a knowing, and far too happy smile. "Hello gentlemen. So kind of you to drop by."

"Stryker." Vic acknowledged, before laying Remy on the ground between Jimmy and his legs. So that they could stand back to back, claws out and ready. They wouldn't go down easy.

= = = =

Which was why it was just their luck that Remy chose that moment to wake up. And he didn't he even have the decency to stay laying down where they could protect him. At least enough to make sure that probably get a gut shot or anything fatal.

He pulled himself to his feet, staggering and with duct tape bandages making look like a broken doll. He staggered just out of Vic's grasp when he tried to grab the idiot.

Vic would have been pissed except tit seemed more like dumb luck than anything else. With the way he was staggering Vic had his doubts that the kid even noticed his hand.

Unfortunately, he also didn't seem to notice that he was staggering up to Stryker. He shared a look with James out of the corner of his eye, silently communicating a plan. Which one of them was going to tackle the kid to the ground and which one of them was going to slash Stryker's throat.

When Remy reached into his pocket, Vic was expecting him to come out with a pack of his ever present cigarette It was a surprise when he pulled out a pack of cards instead. Not a good surprise either.

Which seemed to go doubly for Stryker, who started backing away from the Atoma. "It has been a while Mister Stryker. Did you come to see me again, so that you could work you’re your out your rage?" He asked following Stryker's retreating form.

James caught his eye again, raising his eyebrow in obvious question, but Vic didn't have much help to offer him. He didn't have a clue what was going on. "Problem Stryker?" He tried to drag the Bastard's attention away from the Atoma, so that Jimmy could move in and separate them without getting Remy shot.

It didn't work though. It was like he might not as well have been there for all the attention Stryker was paying him. He was still backing away from Remy. "You don't want to do this, son. You know what happened the last time you lost control. It was for the best that you came to be a part of our group."

"Yes, it was. I didn't want to hurt any more innocents." His smile froze them all in place as his eyes started to glow. "But you're not an innocent."

Stryker screamed but it didn't stop what came next as the cards exploded out of Remy's hands. Bright pink energy crackling through the air and the cards as they flew in every direction.

There was a flash of pink, almost white, light and then a boom and set Victors ears ringing like he was back in the church he and Jimmy had attended when they were kids, helping the bell ringer pull the cord to send the bells ringing. Calling everyone to services. He might have even blacked out for a while because by the time he blinked his vision back into focus, the clearing looked completely different. The sheer cliff looked like someone had hollowed it out with a giant spoon and there were bodies strewn out all around them, mixed with the corpses of demolished trees.

The most noticeable body among them was Remys' which lay in a heap, dead center in the circle of destruction.

"Shit!" Jimmy cursed.

It sounded like a whisper but Vic suspected that he was actually shouting. He knew enough about surviving explosions to know that the ringing in his ears was a sign of hearing loss as much as having his brains scrambled.

"We should get out of here."

"Yeah." Jimmy agreed.

They both stumbled forward until they were by Remy's body. Vic was a lot more careful when he picked him up this time. He didn't feel angry with Jimmy for rescuing the kid now, It looked like whatever his brother had suspected about Remy being a part of the weapon X project had just been the tip of the iceberg and any enemy of Strykers was the friend to the two of them.

= = = =

It was another two days and the rest of their trip up to Canadian for Remy to woke up again. His body had healed up enough for them to take the duct tape off and there had been no further signs of Stryker or his goons.

If he'd caught a sight of Stryker's body as they'd left that clearing, Vic would have ended things for good. He just had to hope that the fact that there hadn't been any sign of his corpse meant that Remy had disintegrated him.

"Welcome back to the land of the living."

The Atoma rolled to a sitting position and began looking around. "What are you doin' here Mister Victor?"

"My brother's an idiot."

"Mr. James?"

"Unfortunately."

"Don't be such a bastard, Vic." Jimmy nudged his butt with his boot and leaned over him so that he could hand a bowl of rabbit broth to Remy.

"Was Mister Stryker here before or did I just dream that?"

James shifted a little. He was just such a chicken shit."Yeah he was here." Vic said.

James glared at him.

"Did I get him?"

Now James turned to his glare towards Remy.

"Do not try to guilt me into feeling sorry for that man, 'chere. It won't work. There is nothing inside Stryker that I'd feel guilty for eradicating."

"Amen."

"Vic!"

"Don't mind him. He thinks that everyone has some good in them."

"I think that we should act like civilized human beings."

Remy started laughing and just kept laughing and laughing. Long past the point when he devolved into hysterics.

James patted his back in a pathetic manner. Vic rolled his eyes and left the two of them tow it. It wasn't that funny but it wasn't like patting on his back was going to do anything for the kid.

Stryker had been bad. A real beast to them. But they'd been fighters and killers. There were limits to what he could do to them without them rebelling. Vic doubted Remy had been in a position to enforce his limits. If there had been limits then he wouldn't have ended up chipped in three places and desperate enough to blow himself up in order to get rid of Stryker.

= = = =

"How did he get his hands on you?" He asked once Remy had calmed down. " We knew he was against mutants but didn't know he was after robots too."

"He's not. Atoma's aren't robots. Not really. I was a mutant back before they got their a hand on me. He rubbed fingers over his shirt front, where Victor knew there as a huge scar.

"I was really powerful as a kid. My powers..." He flicked his fingers up and the pink energy that had blown through the clearing, crackled between his fingers like lightning."They got out of control sometimes. One time I got really out of control. Blew up an entire theater full of people. That was how Stryker got a hold of me. He wanted my powers and he wasn't going to let anybody stop him."

"I'm surprised he didn't just kill you or add you to his collection of ice sculptures." It might have been better if he had. He was a monster but pretty far from the worst thing out there."How young were you when he found you?"

He started shoveling soup into his mouth at a good pace. Vic suppose they'd have to be starving after using up so much energy blowing Stryker away. Followed by two nights of barely being unconscious.

He and Jimmy had eaten a few bowls of the soup themselves.

"I don't know." Remy finally answered after his spoon had started screeching as it scraped agains the aluminum camp bowl. I can't remember how old I was. I was brought up on the streets. Belonged to the Antiquary. After that I was on my own, too old to hold his interest anymore and I didn' want to get dragged into the Thieves guild's business."

"I think you might have been better off."

"Vic!" Jimmy snapped.

Remy just laughed. Vic had been expecting it. He had more experience with Remy than Jimmy. Not that that was saying all that much but he had a good feel for people and someone who'd been taken advantage of as much as Remy had been was bound to want to have things straight forwards. What else could he want than that? It was the only thing that you couldn’t trust brutal honestly.

"I might have been better off, 'chere. But I heard that the poor bastard they got to take my place was chopped into thirteen pieces and scattered around New Orleans, after being forced to drink the immortality potion that keeps the leaders of both the mortal guilds alive to fight each others. I think I got the better deal."

Vic grunted his agreement. He didn't know much about being a robot, but it had to be better than going through something like that. Back when he'd first realized how indestructible he and Jimmy were he'd had nightmares about similar things happening to them. There was a particularly vivid one about Jimmy screaming as he was vivisected alive that still haunted him.

"So how did you end up being turned into an Atoma?" Leave it to Jimmy to complain about his honesty, then ask that.

"I think I'll be goin' to sleep. Thanks for the soup." He bobbed his head in gratitude, before laying down and turning his back to us.

Once his deep even breathing filled the space, Jimmy curled up against Vic's side like back when they were kids. "Do you think Stryker will keep coming after us?"

"He should have learned his lesson. It's not like he's got much to throw at us. I doubt he's pissed enough to come after us just for stealing one Atoma. Even if he's a fuckin' powerful mutant besides."

.

"There's no reason to sugar coat it. You didn't take him, I did." After that Jimmy didn't say anything else, but he didn't leave Vic's side until after the fire had burned down to embers and the cold made Vic send him to cuddle up with Remy, in the nest of blankets they'd made for him. Vic needed to keep watch, or he would have gladly joined them.

= = = =

He woke up when sunlight trickled into the cave and hit his face. The fire was out and it was fucking freezing. He shouldn’t have fallen asleep. He's long since outgrown falling asleep during watch. He had though, because the fire had been blazing still when he'd last remembered seeing it.

Easing up he moved over to check on the others. He'd only felt this out of it once before. Just after he and Jimmy had started working for Stryker they'd tried to get away. One of his other pet mutants had been sicked on them. With a single touch she'd been able to force them to go along with Stryker. The fuzziness he was feeling now had the same artificial feel to it that set his instincts on edge. Only Jimmy was in the nest of blankets. He didn't even react to Vic standing over him. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and his claws extended on pure instinct.

A deep breath dragged the sent of the cave in. Damp, campfire smoke, and just beneath it Remy's body odur and the scent of cigarettes from outside the cave. Vic made sure to keep his steps light. If something more was going on then Remy getting a smoke then there wasn't any reason to warn their pressures. Particularly whatever mutant was waiting out there to strike.

With his head thrown back, and his body sprawled against the outer wall of the cave Remy looked like he was supposed to be in the middle of the woods. He even had one of Jimmy's flannel shirts on to prove it. Though the way his wrists stuck out of the too-short sleeves didn't help with whatever attempt he was making to look like Jimmy.

"Did you sleep well?"

Vic hadn’t made enough noise that Remy should have been able to hear him. "Yes."

Remy nodded but went back to smoking his cigarette like Vic's answer didn't matter.

"Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "You seemed like you needed the rest."

"Get back into the gave." He did his best to keep the surrounding woods in sight. No sign of stryker's men yet.

"When I'm done."

"Now!" He barked.

Remy turned his full attention on him. Unease slammed into him. Foreign, and almost frightening because of it, as a slight pink light gathered around the Atoma's eyes. Vic tried to back away, but his legs wouldn't move.

Stubbing his cigarette out against the cave wall, Remy took a few steps towards Vic. Until he was well withing his space. The light around his eyes had taken on a slight purplish tint now. "Don't order me around. You're not my client anymore."

Vic wasn't able to move again until a few minutes after Remy pushed passed him and went back into the cave. It was annoying, but Vic had better things to do than worry about what he was up to. He might not be able to sense the mutant, or Stryker's men, but that didn't mean much. At least while Jimmy and Remy were in cave someone would have go through him to get to them.

= = = =

He went on patrol, trying to find the telepath or at least some of Stryker's goons that could lead him to the mutant. There was nothing. Not even a sign of any human besides him and Jimmy in the entire acre that surrounded the cave.

If there was a telepath that could affect them from farther away then that, then Vic wouldn't stand a chance against them. Not without Jimmy to back him up. So there was no point searching farther away.

The cave was warmer when he got back. The fire stoked and crackling and he could smell the coffee in the kettle nestled on the coal that had been raked to the side.

Jimmy was awake though he looked as happy about it as a bear being woken from their hibernation. Vic would talk to him about their mental trespasser once he'd had enough coffee to be reasonable. For now… he elbowed his brother away from the kettle with a grunt and go himself a cup of coffee.

At least Remy had done as he'd been told and stayed inside the cave. Though Vic wasn't sure how he felt about the way that he'd climbed to the top of a large outcropping of rocks and was huddled there with his own cup of coffee. He'd meant for the kid to stay where Jimmy could guard him, but they were still between the outcropping and the entrance to the cave. So he let it go for now.

"Find anything?"

"No sign of Stryker or his goons."

"So we're clear."

He'd forgotten how oblivious his brother could be when it came to telepaths. "Someone is out there."

"If there's no sign?"

"You couldn't tell? Someone made sure we went to sleep last night."

Jimmy snorted. "You fell asleep on watch. So what? You used to do that all the time."

He couldn’t hold back his growl, but he managed to keep his claws from extending more than a centimeter or two. "Not in decades and not like that. You didn't even notice when I was standing right next to you."

"You're sure?"

He nodded. Pleased that Jimmy was finally getting the picture.

"We need to move."

Vic went to start packing their supplies.

= = = =

"Just come down so we can get going." Jimmy yelled up to Remy, obviously loosing patience but still trying to handle things in a 'civilized' manner. As he liked to call it.

Vic had never understood the appeal. While Jimmy was being his usual distracting self, he snuck round to the back side of the outcropping, out of Remy's line of sight, and started to climb.

He managed to get behind Remy and grab him around the waste, before catapulting them both down to the cave floor. Where he handed the squirming Atoma over to his brother. "Lets go."

Racious cursing in both French and creole started up behind him. But he didn't care. He just wanted to be away from Stryker's telepath. The thought of anyone but Remy in his head made him twitchy. And homicidal.

= = = =

They went deeper into the mountains. Deeper than anyone but the natives usually did. Even Stryker with his counts and spy’s would have a hard time following them this far out.

Which just made it more angering when he woke up the next morning in the same predicament as the first. Only this time it was Jimmy who'd fallen asleep on watch.

If the telepath kept following them then they might not have a choice but to go on the offensive. He didn't bother acting surprised when he found Remy smoking outside the cave again. "I told you to stay in the cave."

"It's a different cave."

Despite his attempts to sound casual, Vic could still smell fear despite the cigarette smoke."Not the point"

He nodded and blew out another lung-full of smoke.

"Get in the cave."

"Why are you so afraid?"

"I'm not afraid."

Remy looked at him. It the way he had the first night they’d met when he'd practically dared Vic to meet with him. "Don't bother. Remy can feel it."

"Stryker sent someone after us." Maybe that would get the stubborn robot to get back into the cave.

"A telepath."

So he'd heard them talking the night before. Vic had thought he was asleep. He and Jimmy would have to be more careful. "We'll take care of him."

"How do you know they aren't trying to help."

Vic was out of patience. He grabbed Remy by the arm and used his other hand to steal away the cigarette and put it out against the wall of the cave. "They're messing with us." He growled. "And nobody plays with me."

= = = =

"Damn it Vic! Wake the hell up. He's gone."

Jimmy's bellowing him from the third night of deep sleep he'd had in a row. "What?"

"Remy's gone. Come on we've got to go find him." Jimmy sounded worried and for once Vic didn't think he was over-reacting. Styker's men and an unknown telepath were lurking somewhere nearby. If they didn't get to Remy first they might not get him back at all. "Can you tell when he left?"

"It smells like a few hours ago. Just after sun up."

So he couldn’t have gone far. He didn't know the area and if the last day of travel had taught them anything it was that Remy didn't have a clue how to handle himself in the woods. "You take the east, I'll take the west. Meet back here."

"Right."

It didn't take that long to find the kid. Vic wasn't surprised. Though Remy had done a better than expected job covering his tracks he was still and armature at all of this. "Where do you think your going?"

"Should have known you'd find me."

Vic ignored his petulant tone in favor for scanning the area for trouble. He couldn’t smell anyone but Remy around, but…"You seen any of Stryker's pets?"

"No. Even he'd have a hard time tracking us this far without my tracking chips to follow."

"His telepath."

"There is no telepath, Cher. Never was."

"What makes you so sure. Even Jimmy and I don't know all of his mutants. He might have been the one in charge of tracking you down, but Atoma's weren't his favorite projects." That distinction went to mutants and Remy might be a mutant but Styker hadn't acted like he could control his powers.

"The only mutants out here are us."

"Maybe the only ones you know about."

"I'd know if there was anyone else."

"You wouldn't." Had he been this sure of himself when he'd been a pup? Probably, but that didn't make it any less annoying. He tried to remember how he'd handled Jimmy, when he'd been young and stupid. He gave up, when he remembered that Jimmy was still stupid, and growled. "Come back to the cave."

"No."

"Last chance." If he didn't come on his own, Vic would just toss him over his shoulder and make him come.

Instead of replying, Remy stayed seated and acted like Vic wasn't there. He moved forward to grab him.

"I'm the telepath."

That brought Vic to an abrupt stop. "What?"

" Remy is the empathy."

"You're working for Stryker." His claws extended.

"Non!" He shouted. "Never worked for Stryker."

"Then why are you claiming to be the one messing with us?" Did he have a death wish?

"Don't want you going after him. He'll kill you."

So he had been awake the night before. "Come back to the cave. I could use your help calming my beast." He still had it mostly under control, but Remy was needy after he helped Vic. It'd be harder for him to sneak out after.

"I can't."

"Why not?" He didn't like being refused.

"You don't know hwat the consequences are!"

"You weren't worried about them before."

"It's different now."

"Too bad." I wouldn’t be refused that easily.

He stood up then, and Vic had a second to think he'd gotten his way, before Remy grabbed his head and there was a voice echoing through his mind. 'Told you 'chere, you don't know what your asking for."

Wheeling back, he shoved him hard enough to leave him laying on the forest floor. "What was that?" He gritted out.

"Told you, 'chere, I'm an empath."

"You're power –" If he had the ability to control that strange pink energy then how could he be an empath?

"My mutant power is the charge power, but I'm an Atoma. This is how we help people."

"You've been messing with my head all this time?" His beast roared to the forefront of his mind and he had his Remy held by the throat and slammed against a tree before he could even think about it.

"You asked for help…"

Vic growled in reply, and squeezed the hand around Remy's throat tighter.

"Please, 'chere. Remy doesn't want to hurt you."

He was beyond caring about that. His beast firmly in control. Which was how he missed Remy charging up the front of his shirt. Until he was blown back, slamming against a tree on the other side of the clearing. "Why?"

"It's what Atoma's are made to do."

He could have easily gone after Remy again, but the pain of being blasted like that let him regain enough control to run away instead. He didn't want to kill the kid no matter how pissed he was and if he stayed in that clearing, he would kill Remy.

= = = =

"Did you find him?" Jimmy asked, as soon as he entered the cave.

Vic couldn’t meet his eyes."Yes."

"Then where is he?"

"Gone."

"Why didn't you bring him back."

"He's the telepath."

"What?"

"He's admitted it. Said being a Atoma meant he was a telepath. That's how he was controlling the beast." Which was boiling up beneath his skin now. Demanding all the needs he'd been able to go without for the last month since Remy had subdued it. And it had just been a month. So why did it feel like so much longer since he'd had this voice slavering in his mind.

"So what?"

"What do you mean so what? He messed with my head." He growled barely holding himself back from through stonewalling Jimmy. If he started that again. Jimmy would leave him again. Both Vic the man and Vic the beast railed against that possibility.

"He helped you Vic and you've always known he was an Atoma. If having your head messed with is what it takes to control your beast, then so what. He helped you. That's more than anyone else has ever been able to do."

Vic growled.

Jimmy ignored him. "I'm going after him. If you want to keep letting your beast control you, fine, but I'm not coming after you and I'm not bringing him back here, for you to kill."

He managed to hold off on following Jimmy for another hour, until he calmed down enough that his beast wasn't in complete control. Whatever Remy had done to him might have warn off almost all the way, but he was still in control enough to see Logan's point. He didn't want to go back to the man he was before he'd gone to the Atoma clinic. As much as he hated the idea of having to rely on a telepath messing with his head, it would be worth it if he didn't have to be without his pack again.

= = = =

He found them in the same clearing where he'd left Remy. They'd started a fire and Remy was asleep with his head in Jimmy's lap. "Is he okay?"

Nodding, Jimmy moved to gently dislodge the Atoma, lying him down on the blanket, he'd been sitting on. "He's fine. The idiot didn't know how to start a fire and didn't take any of our supplies. But except for being hungry and cold he's in one piece. You did a good job of not hurting him considering how out of control you were."

"He refused to help me again."

"Did he say why?"

"He said he was the telepath we were worried about. That he'd used his powers to fix me."

"And you blew up. "

Vic nodded.

"Now that you're back in control and know the truth he'll hopefully be willing to help you. I don't like you when you're like this."

He didn't like himself much either.

= = = =

"They make Atoma's by taking Empaths and augmenting their powers with robotics." Remy was very carefully not looking at either of them. "Empathy…it's not a power. Not like my charge power. Humans and mutants have it. They didn't care what we were when they took us. They just wanted the power. None of us knew why. We just knew that they wanted us to help them control certain targets."

"Could you?" Vic hadn't meant to interrupt, but he had to know whether or not Remy could control him. It shouldn't matter, not when Remy had porved himself trustworthy.

"No. The plan didn't work. The project was canceled before Remy even had a chance to participate. The Atomas who were used bonded with their targets. They could control them, but they were controlled as well and once the bond became permanent the handlers couldn't control them and they couldn't help anyone else."

"So why put you in the Center?" Why did Jimmy always have to ask the uncomfortable questions? At least he'd controlled himself enough not to ask the logical second half of that question. 'why didn't they kill you?'

"Remy doesn't know. Maybe they thought we would make good blackmail. Maybe they wanted to try again. Remy just did his job, meant with the clients they sent him." He still wasn't looking at either of them, his eyes on his clasped hands. But Vic didn't need him to look at them, to know he was upset. He could smell it.

Jimmy got up and started preparing a kettle of coffee. So he had to be able to smell the fear scent rising off of Remy too. The caffeine would hopefully help him calm down.

Once he'd stopped shaking, Jimmy started questioning Remy again."If the problem was that the Atomas started bonding with people, then why risk having you in a center where you might end up bonded to somebody."

Remy's coffee cup started shaking.

"Remy?"

"The more time an Atoma spends with their clients the more likely they are to bond."

"You've been with us for over a week now. Does that mean--?" Jimmy trailed off. He didn't need to continue. The implications were obvious.

"Did you bond with us?" Vic asked.

"Non!" Rem was shaking so hard now that the remaining coffee spilled over the side. He put it down beside him. "Not yet, but if Remy stays…"

"Would bonding with you help Vic control his beast?"

Remy startled. "What?"

"Would a bond help with Vic's beast?"

"Jimmy.." He growled a warning.

"Yes, but he doesn’t like Remy in his mind. I'd be in his mind all the time."

"What happens if you don't bond with him?"

"Remy needs to leave. If he stays he won't be able to stop it."

"What about Vic? His beast has already started getting out of control."

"If I join with him again. We will be bonded."

"I'll do it."

Both of them turned to stare at Vic.

"Vic, are you sure?"

"If we do this, I'll be in control?"

"I do not know."

"But the beast won't be able to control me?"

He nodded.

"Then let's do this." He wasn't the type of man who needed to be supported or cared for, but he was done giving the beast what it wanted.

= = = =

End


End file.
